STUDENTS set to graduate from Coventry and Warwick universities this summer are being told to consider leaving the country by the Government.

Bosses at the Government’s Department of Innovation, Universities and Skills and the National Union of Students, are teaming up to write a leaflet advising final year students to consider riding out the recession by doing volunteer work or paid internships overseas.

The leaflet will be sent to careers services at universities to be handed to students in the next few weeks.

But university bosses insist the idea isn’t as crazy as it sounds and that experience overseas will probably be more attractive to employers in the long run than remaining in this country and being out of work.

Jean-Bernard Adrey, head of European and International Mobility for Coventry University, said: “Working or volunteering overseas will enhance employability as research shows.

“Employers really value people who have engaged with this. It shows adaptability and flexibility and shows that someone had developed language and cultural skills.

"A survey in 2004 shows that the UK loses 23 per cent of business opportunities because of the lack of language skills.

“The UK lags behind almost every other country in Europe. Anything that will make a CV stand out in a recession is a good idea.”

Warwick University spokesman Peter Dunn added: “I am sure if DIUS send us leaflets we will put them in the careers service alongside all the other leaflets.”

A survey by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development found that 45 per cent of firms don’t plan to recruit either school leavers or graduates this year as the credit crunch continues to bite.